Amina Srna

As the holiday season ramps up, New York City and the rest of the nation are in the throes of a three-headed hydra of infectious disease. Flu season has spiked early across the U.S., and COVID-19 is taking off post-Thanksgiving. Through the end of last week, the city was averaging about 1,100 daily emergency department visits due to flu-like illness, double the number from late October.

Before coming to New York Public Radio, Sean worked in print, online and radio news around the mid-Atlantic region and Alaska. A New Jersey native, he holds a B.A. from the New School University in Greenwich Village and an M.A. from the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.

The New York native tells WNYC about what battling the HIV/AIDS pandemic taught us about battling infectious diseases in the United States. As New York’s legislature struggles to reach a consensus on how to legalize recreational marijuana, some lawmakers are also seeking to expand the state’s existing medical marijuana program, which is one of the most restrictive in the country.